This library guide is designed to introduce undergraduate students to "starting points" for studies in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.
Welcome
Your assignments at university are an invitation to join a scholarly conversation by exploring topics in depth, formulating a unique research question, examining the research of others along with primary sources, building an argument, and drawing your own conclusions. A good research topic is one that sparks your interest and allows you to ask new questions in order to find meaningful answers. This guide is intended to help you get started.
Pick a research topic
- Read your assignment instructions carefully
- Pick a research topic that interests you and meets the assignment criteria
- Identify the key concepts of your research topic
- If you need extra help, click on Choosing an essay topic
- Developing strong research questions
- Do some background reading on your topic using Wikipedia; watch the Using Wikipedia wisely video
- Key geography resources for overviews of topics:
- Companion encyclopedia of geography: the environment and humankind (online)
- Cultural geography : a critical dictionary of key concepts
- Dictionary of Physical Geography (online)
- Encyclopedia of paleoclimatology and ancient environments (online)
- Encyclopedia of soil science (online)
- International encyclopedia of human geography (online)
- The SAGE handbook of geographical knowledge
Search Omni, the library's main search box to easily find peer-reviewed journal articles on any topic. Remember to refine your search by selecting the following options: Peer-Reviewed Journals, Articles and Subject (optional) to obtain high quality, academic literature. Use the Omni Search Tips
You can also search databases by subject to find journal articles. They offer many advanced search features and search results tend to be more precise.
Recommended databases for geography:
- Arctic Science and Technoloigy Information System
- Canadian Business and Current Affairs
- Centre for the North
- Environment Index
- GEOBASE
- Scopus
- TRID
- Web of Science
Note: If the library does not have what you need, you can order books and journal articles from other libraries through RACER but you need to register before you can start using it.
Books in print
- 21st century geography: a reference handbook
- The Sage Handbook of qualitative geography
- Physical Geography: the key concepts
- Key concepts in geomorphology
- Key concepts in urban studies
- Principles of hydrology
- Changing cold environments
Videos
- Blue Gold - world water wars
- Bikes and Cars - explores circular motion
- Drowned Out - water and poor people in India
- Meet the Frackers - controversial fracking processes
- My Brooklyn - downtown, condos, zoning issues
- Slum Cities - global human issue of urban slums
- When the levees broke - Hurricane Katrina devastation
Websites
Government
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
- Natural Resources Canada
Societies & Associations
- American Association of Geographers
- Canadian Association of Geographers
- Canadian GIS and Geomatics
- International Association for Great Lakes Research
- Royal Geographical Society
- Royal Canadian Geographical Society
- Royal Scottish Geographical Society
- Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (Australia)
Geographers most often use APA citation style:
-
APA Citation Style web guide for basic instructions
Referencing your sources is an important part of academic writing. Why?
- it lets you acknowledge the ideas or words of others if you use them in your work
- it helps you to avoid plagiarism
- it demonstrates that you are using the scholarly record and that you can provide authority for statements you make in your term paper
- it enables readers to find the source information
Alternate Citation Guides:
Writing Guides:
- The Elements of Style, William Strunk (html version)
- Writing an annotated bibliography: link to the Youtube video or web page for instructions.
- Writing Services - located on the 4th floor of the library:
- offers students help with learning the mechanics of academic writing
- Data Basin
- GEO Data Portal (UNEP)
- Geofolio - easy tool that let's you create thematic fact sheets with information on vegetation, agriculture, soils, weather, etc.
- Canada's Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- EnviroStats (Stats Can)
- Permafrost Discovery Gateway
- Scholars GeoPortal
Click here for more Canadian data
Click here to find Maps
Click here for GIS Help
Electronic Text Books
- BC Open Textbook Collection
- eCampus Ontario Open Library
- Mason OER Metafinder
- Open Geography Education
- University of Manitoba OER
Search Tip:
- Find Open Access books when searching Omni. When refining your search results, select the Open Access and Books filters (in left column).
